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My father is 79 y.o.  His health is declining but he can make his own decisions. He would like to leave his home to his grandchildren but his fear is that if he would get sick and have to go into a nursing home.  If so, how can he avoid this?

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The lookback period on the house will be 5 years. If he wanted he could transfer the house to them legally. This has two drawbacks. If it is their house, they could make him vacate it if they choose. And if he transfers it, then it could have large capital gains that are based on what he paid for it and not what the present market is. If they inherited it, the basis of the house would be its market value at the time it was inherited, instead of what your father paid for it. You may want to consider all the options available to you and decide what to do. This will have much to do with the personality of the grandchildren and what your father paid for the house. Many years ago a good house could be bought for $20K, but the current value may be $250K. The capital gains tax could be substantial should they decide to sell it.

I usually consider real estate something that needs to be discussed with a real estate attorney who knows all the legalities involved in transferring houses within families. Mistakes can be very costly.
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I can understand your Dad's concern, and it is very real. Unless Dad is quite wealthy, someone is going to need to pay for Dad's care in a skilled nursing home. Dad can self-pay for while but it goes quickly. Then Dad would need to apply for Medicaid [which is different from Medicare].... Medicaid will pay for your Dad's care in the nursing home for as long as he is there.

Please note that Medicaid will want to be reimbursed through Dad's estate. Therefore, Medicaid will place a lien on Dad's house, and collect whatever equity is in the house, any equity left over will go to the family.

Sorry, it isn't easy to avoid this. Medicaid is funded by the taxpayers, and the taxpayers wouldn't be happy campers knowing that Dad still has a house that could be used for reimbursement. If Dad didn't have the house, different story. The taxpayers will pay for his care.

Here's the question, would the grandchildren want his house? I know I didn't want my parent's last house, so I sold it so my Dad could use the funds to pay for Independent Living/Assisted Living. I didn't need to worry about a vacant house sitting for years.
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Yes, it's a investment property.
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Thank you for the advice.
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